Chapter 32: Paid With Interest

It was a rare thing for a stranger to visit the tiny settlement of Chalca, Colorado. The man who arrived on this November day did not seem like a beneficent waft of providence as he turned his lathered dun horse towards the L-shaped building which formed most of the remote community. It was one o’clock on a Sunday afternoon and most of the residents had succumbed to the lethargy that usually overtook them at this point in the week. An exception was the ever-busy storekeeper. He had heard the approaching rider and stepped out onto the porch. “Hello,” he said.

“Afternoon. Hope I’m not disturbing your day of rest.”

“Not at all. We don’t often get visitors here. I’m Pete Simmons, and if you don’t mind my saying so, you look worn out.” Even from a distance of eight feet, he could see that the newcomer’s eyes were glazed and rimmed with what looked like lack of sleep, and that he was just about ready to fall from his mount.

“My name’s Howard Baines, and you’re right. I’m tired.”

“Well, light down and come in. I’ll see to your horse, if you like.”

“That’s an offer I’ll not refuse,” said the stranger. Dismounting stiffly, he stepped up onto the planking, extending a hand, which Simmons grasped as he nodded at the door. “Get yourself inside, Mr Baines. I guess you could use a drink or two and something to eat.”

“Right again.”

Ushering his guest into the front room, Simmons seated him at the two-sided home-made corner bench which, along with a few chairs, accommodated the whole community on Sunday evenings, and any other time they chose to get together. The storekeeper produced a stiff belt of whiskey. “Get that down you. I’ll be back shortly and we’ll see about food.”

Simmons left to attend to the horse. He was away for only a few minutes, but when he returned, Baines was laid back, head resting against the top of the bench, fast asleep. The storekeeper had already noted that his visitor was about six feet in height and slimly built. Now he took his first chance to get a close look at Baines’s face. About forty years of age, was his verdict, though the three or four day growth of dark stubble didn’t help the assessment.

It was close to two hours and three pipes of tobacco later when Simmons noted the stranger’s eyelids flickering. The man woke and looked around, startled. Simmons grinned. “I guess that’s done you good, Mr Baines,” he said. Now, how about a little beef stew?”

“I’d be more than pleased. I haven’t eaten much in the last couple of days.”

Simmons bustled off, returning with a steaming bowl and two large hunks of bread. “Don’t bother about talking. Just get outside that. A man can’t discuss things on an empty stomach.”

The hungry traveller needed no second bidding. He disposed of the food in short order. Simmons, who was quite proud of his cooking, nodded appreciatively. “Care for a second helping?” he said.

Baines held up a hand. “I couldn’t manage any more, thank you. But I’d like to say I never tasted anything better. I’m grateful.”

“You’re welcome. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?”

A sigh came up from Baines’s boot soles. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know. How long was I out?”

“Nearly two hours. Is that important?”

“Could be. Look, I’m much obliged to you, but I should move on now. If I stay, there may be trouble.”

“That a fact? How so?”

Baines grimaced. “In a way, you could regard me as being on the run.”

“In a way? Is there more than one?”

“A few days ago, I’d have said not. Now I know different. We might be interrupted, but I’ll tell you the tale, if you’re minded to hear it.”

“Don’t see how it can do any harm. Go on.”

“Well, I’ll give it to you as straight as I know how. Just in case I don’t get to finishing, I have to tell you that there’s a bunch of people after me. I guess they call themselves a posse, but from what little I could gather, I’d say lynching party would be a better description.”

“I see. Why do they want you?”

“It started on Thursday night, in a little place called Banham, northeast of here. I have enough money invested to keep me going for a while, and I’ve been moving around with no particular aim in mind. I registered at a hotel then went to a saloon. I was intending only to have a couple of drinks, but I saw what looked like a friendly poker game going on, so I thought I’d take a hand. Funny thing is I don’t play cards much, but I fancied a little company. Anyway, there were four other players. Three of them were in their forties or fifties. The fourth was younger, in his early twenties I guessed. Nobody said it outright, but I got the impression that the older fellows were cowpunchers and the young one was their boss’s son. He was the problem. He had a lot to say and not much of it was too pleasant. I reckoned the older men were pretty embarrassed by his talk.”

Simmons nodded. “I suppose they were tolerating him for the sake of their jobs.”

“I’d say so. Well, for a time he was just cussing in general, but then I won a few hands – not much money because the stakes were low. That was when the young fellow started in on me. He made some provocative comments, but I didn’t rise to the bait. Then he came right out and accused me of cheating. It was downright stupid. I don’t imagine anyone with the skill to cheat would play such a penny-ante game. Well, I couldn’t let that one pass, so I handed out a sharp remark to him. He’d been drinking plenty and I guess he was bad-tempered to start with. What I said must have stung him because he jumped up, pulled a knife from his belt and flung himself across the table at me.”

Simmons’ eyes widened. “That must have been a surprise.”

“It sure was. I guess what I did was pure reflex. I wasn’t armed, so I just pushed my chair back and stuck out my arms, thinking to fend the fellow off. Well, he was coming at me like a pouncing wildcat. My left hand grabbed his right. I was only thinking of stopping that knife. I did that all right, but the rest of him kept moving. The knife turned and went into his neck. It must have hit a jugular vein. He dropped flat over the table, blood pumping out of him. I was knocked back and fell on my rear end.”

Baines gave another huge sigh, then went on: “One of the onlookers took a hand by helping me up. He whispered in my ear: ‘You’d better get out of here right quick, mister. That’s Dave Hewitt and I reckon you’ve killed him. I know you couldn’t help it, but his pa runs things in these parts, including the law. You’ve no chance of an even break here. They’ll hang you for sure – and you’ll not get a trial first.’ Well, I thanked the man and got going. I dashed to the livery stable. Didn’t bother about my things at the hotel. I managed to saddle up and as I was moving off, I saw some men running my way. To keep it short, they’ve been after me since then.”

Simmons shook his head. “That’s a bad experience,” he said. “How far behind are they?”

Baines shrugged. “Hard to say for sure. I’ve tried to watch out, but mostly I’ve been doing my best to keep ahead. I’d say it can’t be more than four or five hours. And they’re sticking to it. I don’t think they’ll give up easily.”

“What made you come here?”

“I was hoping to make it over the pass to the west, but my horse was near tuckered out. Knowing a little about these parts, I figured that the track down here was probably the only turn-off. There must be a dozen of these men and it’s a sure thing they’ll send two or three along this way, just in case. I’d say they’re about due.”

Simmons jumped up. “Don’t worry. Just wait here and I’ll be right back.” He left, returning within two minutes. “Okay, that’s settled,” he said. “I’ve sent old Dick Rogers up to our lookout point. If anybody comes, he’ll tell us in good time.”

“I’m indebted to you again,” said Baines. “I can’t really expect you to believe me, but I’ve told the truth.”

Simmons waved his hands. “It’s not a question of believing,” he replied. “For what it’s worth, I do believe you, but the point is that we’re peaceable folk here. We’ve no time for rough justice. If these men turn up, we’ll hide you. Now relax.”

“That’s mighty kind of you, Mr Simmons. I’m real sorry to be such a nuisance, but I swear I’ve given you a straight story. And now I’d be interested to know how you came to be here.”

Simmons laughed. “That’s another strange tale,” he said. “We were part of a wagon train, going west over the pass you mentioned. One day we came upon an old Indian who didn’t seem quite right in the head. He babbled about gold. Said there’d been a white man who’d found plenty of it at the end of the valley, which is right here. Best we could make of it was that the Indian’s name was Chalca, or some such. He disappeared that same day we met him, but a few of us decided to take a chance and look things over. To cut a long story short, we got locked in by a blizzard and when it cleared up we decided to stay and call the place after our Indian friend. Now we’re at the end of our tether. There are only nine of us – seven men and two women – and we can’t hold out much longer. It’s a pity. If we’d found the gold that old fellow talked about, we’d have made out well enough, what with the wildlife and timber and all. We could have paid for other supplies to be brought in.”

“But you didn’t find any gold?”

“No. We found traces up there” – he waved a hand at the horseshoe of mountains that almost surrounded the place – “but if there ever was anything worth taking, somebody must have got it. The fact is that much as all of us would like to settle here permanently, we’ll be hard pressed to last out until spring. Right now we’re trying to decide when to go back to the pass and strike out to the west. Like I said, it’s a shame. We gambled and we lost.”

Simmons was about to go on, when an old man came rushing in. “They’re comin’,” he yelled. “Three of ‘em.”

“I knew it,” said Baines.

His host was unperturbed. “Thanks, Dick,” he said to the old-timer. “I’ll see to it.” He turned to Baines. “Just get up. You’re sitting on your salvation.”

Baines stood, looking amazed. “My salvation?”

“That’s right. Lift that seat.”

Still baffled, Baines did as he was told. The section of the bench he’d been sitting on was seven feet long. Underneath, it was hollow and completely empty. “I used to keep some of my supplies in there,” said Simmons. “Now you see what’s left. There’s a couple of air holes. If you climb in and keep quiet, we’ll get rid of these boys.”

It was probably sheer fatigue that decided the matter. Baines simply couldn’t flee, so he clambered into the box. “Now remember, keep quiet and leave things to me,” said Simmons, lowering the lid.

Ten minutes later, three hard-looking men rode into Chalca, to be greeted by Pete Simmons. “Afternoon, gents. This is rare honour. We don’t normally get visitors, even one at a time. Never had three at once before.”

The rider in the middle nodded. “Howdy. We’ll not keep you long. We’re looking for a man who might have come this way. He’s running from the law.”

Simmons shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you,” he said. “You’re the first strangers we’ve had here in quite a while. Still, if you want to rest up, I guess we could –”

The spokesman waved a hand. “Thanks, but there’s no need for that. We have to keep going. Came here just on the off chance. Don’t seem like our man could have bypassed your place.”

“That’s impossible,” Simmons replied. “There’s only one way in or out of here. If your boy came this way, we’d have seen him. What did he do?”

“Killed a man in Banham. Stabbed him in the throat.”

Simmons shook his head in sorrow at the ways of his fellows. “Sounds gruesome. You’d be a posse, I guess.”

“Part of one. The others are heading west. You ever heard of Fred Hewitt?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Well, it was his son got killed. Hewitt draws a lot of water where we come from. If the killer turns up here, you hang onto him and you’ll get a big reward.”

“Oh, he’s worth something, is he?”

“You can reckon on two thousand dollars. If the man turns up, just keep him, get along to Banham and ask for Hewitt.”

“I’ll remember that,” Simmons said. “I suppose you’ll get the same payoff if you catch him, right?”

“We’re Hewitt riders,” the spokesman replied, “so we’d want the man no matter what, but I guess we’ll be compensated for our extra work when we get him. Anyway, time we got back to the others. Sorry to have bothered you.”

“No trouble at all. I told you we don’t get much company. Wish you could stay.”

As the trio left, Old Dick hurried to the lookout point and watched them move out of sight, then returned to report that all was clear. It was only then that Simmons lifted the seat and beckoned his guest out. “You’re safe now, Mr Baines. They’ve been and gone.”

Baines climbed out. “I’m sure thankful for all you’re doing. I can assure you that you’ve saved an innocent man from doing a rope dance.”

Simmons shrugged. “We’d have done the same even if we hadn’t accepted your version of what happened.”

“You would?”

“I already told you what everybody here thinks about that. Whatever you did or didn’t do, you have the right to a proper court hearing, and from what you said and from the looks of those three fellows, I don’t think you’d have made it that far.”

“No, I wouldn’t. I can’t prove to you that I’m not guilty, but you’ve made the right choice. If you’d done otherwise, I’d be decorating a tree this evening.”